Romancing a Corpse
by rainylikescherries
Summary: When Ritsu said his vows and placed his wedding ring on a tree branch, he expected it to be a tree branch... NOT a corpse. Sekaiichi Hatsukoi version of Corpse Bride.
1. Chapter 1

Yay first Sekaiichi Hatsukoi story! Last two and a half weeks of school holidays so I may as well get some writing done. I've had FF for about 2 years and I've written A story in this span of time T_T man I suck.

Anyway this is the SIH version of Corpse Bride uhhhh ==" It's one of my favourite movies and if there's anyone who hasn't watched it, I recommend you watch it, it's sad but sweet :) Bittersweet? Haha I think so.

Updates will depend on my school schedule but I'll write as much as I can over my remaining holidays.

Disclaimer: I don't own Sekaiichi Hatsukoi, all characters belong to Shungiku Nakamura.  
I just found out he's male. O_O uhhhhhh what.

Anyway please enjoy and I apologize in advance for any grammatical errors/spelling mistakes/whatnot :)

* * *

**Romancing a Corpse**

**Chapter 1**

He was envious.

Envious of the blue butterfly fluttering out his open window, free from its captivity inside a glass jar. He had caught it a few minutes ago, intending to keep it in the jar until he had to leave, yet after realising the butterfly was becoming weaker, he quickly let it go. He watched as it circled his room once, before tentatively fluttering out his window.

Resting his elbows on the windowsill, Ritsu Onodera let out a sigh of defeat as he noticed a carriage outside, ready to escort him and his parents to his _fiance's_ place. He shuddered at the thought. He knew this would happen since he was first told of his engagement months ago, and he accepted it due to knowing that his family needed this marriage to up their financial status, yet…

He detested it.

No matter how Ritsu looked at it, the prospect of an arranged marriage was sickening to him. Why would anyone want to marry someone they didn't love, it was a thought he couldn't even begin to fathom. Even if his fiancé was An chan, who was his childhood friend and someone he cherished very much, he never saw her anymore than a sister. He couldn't say the same for An chan however, who had been ecstatic when she first heard about their to-be-married status that she accepted without hesitation, complete with figurative love hearts in her eyes and a fully-fledged blush adorning her rosy cheeks.

Clutching his stomach with a groan, Ritsu felt a slight foreboding as he heard footsteps approaching his room. A moment later, there came a knock on the door followed by his mother's excited voice, "It's time, Ritsu!"  
_My stomach hurts._

Yes, Ritsu was envious of the blue butterfly's freedom.

* * *

An Kohinata looked over her reflection in the mirror, a satisfied smile on her lips. She was dressed to please, and a good idea it was since her fiancé was to be arriving any minute now. She couldn't wait to be with the man of her dreams, her Ricchan whom she had loved ever since they were children. Now, at 24 years of age, it seemed her prayers had finally been heard.

Turning to her accessory box, she dug out a small locket containing a picture of her and Ritsu in their childhood before fastening the chain around her neck. As she did so, the sounds of a carriage drawing up outside drew her attention.

Rushing to the window, she peered out and sure enough, the Onodera family carriage had stopped right at her doorway.

Suddenly, An felt extremely self-conscious. She smoothed out non-existent wrinkles on her dress and tucked in invisible strands of light brown hair that she thought had fallen out of its bun (there was actually not a hair out of place but the prospect of seeing her Ricchan had brought about a new wave of nervousness).

Glancing at her mirror one last time, she set for downstairs, taking one delicate step at a time, the voices of the Onoderas' drifting closer and closer as she travelled further down the staircase. At last, she reached the bottom, and there he was.

Her Ricchan, no, her Ritsu, her husband-to-be, standing awkwardly next to Mr and Mrs Onodera as they eagerly chatted to her own parents (Mr and Mrs Kohinata were less than pleased about having to marry An into a family of such low financial status, but they needed it to restore their family's wealth), who both had expressions of slight contempt. They hid it well, though, behind a façade of faux joy.

Ritsu could feel the tension emitted by his future in-laws. It was disguised well enough, but it was there all the same. His parents either noticed it and chose to ignore it, or didn't notice it at all, but knowing his parents, it was probably the latter. Glancing up from staring at one place on the polished, marble floor, he noticed An chan approaching him from the stairs. He had to admit, she was quite pretty in a gown of pale pink satin that lightly billowed at her feet as she walked. As pretty as she was, Ritsu couldn't see himself being married to this young lady. She gently smiled at him, a cute blush dusting her cheeks. Ritsu forced a smile back, which luckily went unnoticed by An chan, for her smile only grew bigger and brighter. She reached him, and gave a small curtsey to him and his parents.

Mrs Onodera was beside herself in seconds. "Oh my, An-chan!" she gushed, "You look gorgeous! I'm so glad my daughter in law is such a beautiful girl!"

An blushed a brighter shade of red, not only at 'beautiful girl', but also the fact that Mrs Onodera had called her her 'daughter in law' before she and Ricchan were even married.

She heard her mother give a snort, and her Ricchan gave a nervous chuckle. "Mother… we aren't married yet."

"Yet," Mrs Onodera emphasised, "but you will be, Ritsu, and that's why we're here for your wedding rehearsal!"

An beamed in happiness, but to Ritsu, the words felt like a curse dooming him to spend the rest of his life with someone he didn't love. As Mr and Mrs Kohinata reluctantly began to lead the way into the hall, closely followed by a jubilant Mr and Mrs Onodera, Ritsu and An remained behind.

"I'm so happy, Ricchan," An laughed, "We're going to get married! Just think, in a few years we'll have little children of our own! Won't that be exciting!"

"An-chan, isn't it a little too soon to be thinking of children…" Ritsu gulped, the wedding rehearsal itself already threatening to make him age 20 years faster.

"Nonsense, I've already decided we'll have half a dozen children, and I've even got names for them! Oh but, let's hurry, I want to get married as soon as possible!" and with that, An tugged Ritsu in the direction of the hall where the rehearsal was to be held. Ritsu winced, for An had tugged a _little_ too hard in her excitement, and if she was this strong, well, Ritsu's future in his married life had obviously darkened a little bit.

* * *

Please review!


	2. Chapter 2

For anyone who's confused about the first chapter, I am so sorry about the confusion! I'm trying to follow the sequence of events of the film, and as it happens the corpse (Emily in the movie) doesn't appear till about 15 minutes into the film so I apologize for the extremely long intro (before Takano comes in).

If you don't want to watch the film, I recommend reading the wikipedia plot of Tim Burton's Corpse Bride as that'll probably give you a pretty detailed summary of what happens in the film. For anyone wanting to watch the film, here's the link

Here's Chapter 2!

* * *

**Chapter 2 **

To say that Ritsu was embarrassed was probably the biggest understatement of the century.

There were multiple groans in the room. He glanced around nervously, taking in his parents' flustered expressions and his future in-laws' cold gazes mixed with annoyance.

The old priest whacked Ritsu's head with his cane, prompting him to turn back to the priest while rubbing the sore spot on the back of his head.

"Repeat after me," the priest gritted through his teeth, "With this hand, I will lift your sorrows. Your cup will never empty, for I will be your wine. With this candle, I will light your way in darkness. With this ring, I ask you to be mine. Now let's try it again."

Ritsu started, "With this hand, I will lift your burrows…"

"No! With this hand, I will lift your sorrows! Again!"

"With this hand, I will lift your tomorrows…"

"It's sorrows! Again!"

And so it went on, with Ritsu forgetting his lines for the upteenth time, the Onoderas sinking lower and lower into their seats, and the Kohinatas fuming in blatant rage.

At last, Ritsu finally managed to get 'sorrows' right. And here is where the next problem lay.

"With this hand, I will lift your sorrows. Your cup will never empty, for I will be your… what's that word?"

The priest massaged the bridge of his nose in exasperation. "Wine…" he sighed.

"Oh yes, wine," Ritsu felt irrevocably abashed. Clearing his throat, he started again.

"With this hand, I will lift your sorrows. Your cup will never empty, for I will be your wine…" The whole room was silent, amazed that Ritsu had managed to have gotten so far.

"With this candle..." Ritsu held one of the two candles on the altar and brought it towards the flame as he tried to light it. The first time it did not light.

"With… this candle…" Once again, he did not light. Confused, he tried to light it again, and this time, it lit. However, as he brought it towards him, he let out a deep sigh of relief and the flame went out. The priest was starting to get angry, so Ritsu hurriedly lit the flame again. "With this candle, I will light your way in darkness. With this ring…" As he said the lines, he brought out the ring from his breast pocket. But once again, the wedding rehearsal could not go well for Ritsu. The ring slipped from his two fingers and bounced on the marble floor. Forgetting about the lit candle in his hands, he made a dive to get the ring as it rolled under Mrs Kohinata's dress. He grasped hold of the ring, pulling it out from under the dress. In the process, he accidentally dropped the candle onto the hem of Mrs Kohinata's dress, lighting it up in flames.

Mrs Kohinata's eyes were wide open, and she let out a shriek of sheer terror that shook the chandeliers in the hall. Her husband stood up brusquely and began to stamp on the dress, to no avail as the fire continued to burn more of the expensive velvet. Mrs Onodera began to fan the dress, which backfired as it only caused the fire to get bigger. Amongst the confusion, a previously unnoticed man approached the commotion and poured wine from his goblet onto the dress, putting out the fire immediately. The room was silent, all eyes on the saviour. He smirked, but the priest had had enough. He stormed towards Ritsu, cornering him, and jabbed a long, bony finger in his face. "Learn your lines, boy, or there will be no wedding," he snarled, and rushed from the room, angry footsteps echoing throughout the long corridor. Ritsu shakily stood up, not meeting anyone's eyes, before excusing himself and running out of the hall.

The 'saviour' from earlier watched him leave, a sinister grin making its way upon his face. He introduced himself to both households.

"My name is Shin Haitani... pleased to make your acquaintance."

* * *

It was nightfall when Ritsu let out a sigh as he stood on the bridge between his town and the dark woods bordering it. The sun had gone down about half an hour ago, but he didn't feel like going back to his parents or An chan. He fingered the gold band in his fingers as he desperately tried to remember his vows. He didn't want to be married, but he would do it if it meant that his parents would be happy. He remembered the hours his parents had sat despondently, when his father's publishing company had gone bankrupt. Ritsu wanted to see his parents smiling and laughing again, and it seemed like the only way to do that was for him to get an arranged marriage to a rich family. He liked An chan, sure, but not in the way she wanted him to.

A loud voice broke through his musings. "Wedding Rehearsal ruined by Ritsu Onodera! Kohinata Wedding Rehearsal ruined by Ritsu Onodera!"

Ritsu turned away. _Oh God,_ he thought, _now the whole town knows of what an embarrassment I am. _Without meaning to, he walked across the bridge to get further away from the cause of his shame – and closer to the dark woods.

Trudging through the dark expanse of forest, Ritsu once again thought of his wedding vows. "It's just a couple of vows, what's so hard about that? With this hand, I will take your wine… no, with this candle, your cup will never empty… what the hell!" As he walked, he passed trees of various sizes and branches that resembled bony hands stretching out towards him. It was not until he hit his foot on something hard did he realise it was a gravestone, and then discover that he was walking through a graveyard full of gravestones. He shivered a little, and he knew it wasn't just from the cool night breeze.

Taking out the ring again, he looked at it closely and realised that even if he did not want this wedding to happen, it was necessary for his parents' happiness. Fuelled by new found determination, he began reciting his vows with barely a pause in between.

"With this hand, I will lift your sorrows. Your cup will never empty, for I will be your wine. With this candle, I will light your way in darkness…" he turned around to find a particularly hand-shaped branch, and cupping it in his palm, "With this ring, I ask you to be mine," he slid the ring onto the ring finger of the branch. Satisfied, Ritsu paused for a moment to admire his handiwork, when he became aware of the eerie silence of the forest. Even the crows in the nearby tree were silent, and a sudden cold gust of wind blew around him. Suddenly, the 'branch' grasped his wrist in a vice-like grip and refused to let go when he tried to yank himself away. It pulled his whole arm into the ground, and Ritsu was shocked when he felt the ground rumbling. Snatching his arm out of the ground, Ritsu stared in horror at the figure that rose above the crackling ground.

It was a man, dressed in a black tuxedo… or rather, what USED to be a black tuxedo. It was torn away in different parts yet still managed to make the man look elegant and dignified. The man had slick black hair, and he was oh so very tall, and as much as he didn't want to admit it Ritsu thought the man was incredibly handsome not to mention his smirk-to-die-for. But of course, Ritsu could only gape at the man and more specifically, the gold wedding band on his left hand. As he continued to stare dumbfounded, the gorgeous man didn't stop smirking, and even glanced at the ring on his finger.

"About time. I do."

Horrified, Ritsu forced himself up, and broke into a run.

* * *

Yay Takano appears (at the very end). I'm aware that in the actual movie, Victor (Ritsu) tries to break free of the 'branch' and ends up ripping Emily's (Takano) skeleton hand away with him... I'm not going to include that in this fic cuz it's a bit weird, not to mention a bit likely to make people squeamish :L

And yes I know Emily looks horribly mangled (she's still pretty though!) but I'm not opting to make Takano look the same nor looking rotten or anything just cuz it's Takano, you know? Instead, he'll look as human as possible except tattered clothing and a couple of wounds.. I think. Anyway I'll have to decide on that, but in the meantime, please review! :)


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 done!

Really happy with progress, and I had fun writing this chapter :)

I'm aware that the link for the movie didn't pop up last chapter, so here it is again wwwdotmovie2kdotto/Corpse-Bride-watch-movie-1235990dothtml  
Replace every "dot" with actual dots .

Hope you like Chapter 3!

* * *

**Chapter 3**

_What the hell_ _was that,_ Ritsu thought as he blindly ran through the woods, _I'm sure it was a tree branch, so why the hell is a ghost chasing after me?!_

Said ghost (actually a dead man) was currently shadowing Ritsu's steps as he followed his new 'husband' at a more leisurely pace. It had been a long time since he'd been above the ground, and was he surprised at the sudden love confession he'd been given - it had been 10 years since his last one and even then his boyfriend had roundhouse kicked him and ran off to God knows where – much the same as his new lover was running away from him now. He snickered as his new husband flailed about wildly as a means to escape his advances, and he actually had to bite back a laugh when the man ran face-first into a tree.

Ritsu turned around, a bit dazedly as his head throbbed (because what would you expect after hitting a goddamned tree?), but took off running again after seeing the ghostly white pale thing getting closer and closer.

Seeing a break in the trees, Ritsu surged forward and ran as fast as he could until he reached the bridge from earlier, where he spun around wildly to see if the ghost man was still trailing him. Letting out a sigh of relief when there was no one in sight, he allowed himself to catch his breath before turning back towards the direction of the town – and straight into the honey gold eyes of the dead man from earlier.

Uttering a gasp of shock, Ritsu found the bridge's railings digging into his back as he realised there was no escape. This did not go unnoticed by the ghostly man, who leaned in even closer to Ritsu until their lips were mere inches apart, and whispered softly, "You may now kiss the groom."

Ritsu's only thought before his world faded to black was the dead man's eyes. How they had been so _alive._

* * *

Back in town, the Onoderas' were faced with a new dilemma.

"Oh my goodness, I had no idea Ritsu would make such a mess of his lines!" Mrs Onodera was sobbing, her tears ruining her foundation and smudging her heavy eyeliner, "And now the Kohinatas' are refusing to marry their An chan to Ritsu! What will become of us?"

Mr Onodera looked crestfallen as well. He knew that if Ritsu did not get married to An, there would be no chance of restoring his family publishing company and it meant that in a few years or so, the Onodera family would be on the verge of poverty. Things had looked so promising before when the Kohinatas' had (reluctantly) agreed to the marriage, but now, with the Kohinatas' out… Mr Onodera buried his face in his hands.

An hid behind a corner of the wall as she sadly watched Ricchan's parents in such a state of depression. She had protested when her own mother had announced the engagement off, and she had seen the expressions of shock on Mr and Mrs Onodera's faces (she hadn't seen her Ricchan ever since he ran out of the rehearsal hall earlier in the afternoon so she hadn't had a chance to tell him what had happened). However, An was determined to be with her Ricchan no matter what, even at the cost of her relationship with her own parents. Resolute, she was about to step out in front of the wall to tell Ricchan's parents that she still would gladly marry him, when a figure approaching the Onoderas' convinced her to stay where she was and listen to their conversation in case it was to do with their upcoming marriage.

She recognised him. The creepy man who had watched Ritsu run out of the hall with a sly expression. The man who had introduced himself as Shin Haitani.

Shin Haitani cautiously stepped towards the Onoderas, formulating a plan in his mind as he went. Their son seemed like a nice lad who would inherit an enormous amount of money from his parents in marriage. Inwardly snickering, he remembered the last man who had so stupidly agreed to marry him, bringing all his money to the cherry blossom tree where they agreed to meet at... which ultimately, led to that same man's downfall. Haitani brushed off the thought, blaming his death on the man's own idiocy. He did not offer an ounce of remose towards the man's sad death.

"Mr and Mrs Onodera?"

The Onoderas' looked up. Mrs Onodera squinted at him, "Haitani san?" she spoke tentatively.

Haitani **(A/N: I'll use his last name from now on since people seem to recognise him by his last name rather than his first)** offered a slight quirk of his mouth and nodded. "If I may, Mr Onodera, are you the famed CEO of Onodera Publishing?"

Mr Onodera wiped his sleeve across his red eyes, "More like WAS the CEO, before my company went bankrupt."

_So far so good,_ Haitani thought, "Ah, well then, I have a proposition you may be interested in."

At the mention of 'proposition', Mrs Onodera looked intrigued. "Let's hear it then. What exactly do you propose?"

"I work in the Weekly Earth department of Shuudansha Publishing." Mr and Mrs Onodera's eyes widened. Shuudansha Publishing?! It was an internationally known publishing company that many people had set their eyes on. Haitani continued, "Our company's CEO is looking to expand the range of our target audience by merging companies with another publishing company, and the CEO has its eyes set on Onodera Publishing." The Onoderas' could not believe their luck. Merge companies? With Shuudansha Publishing? It was an offer too good to pass off.

"Our CEO knows of the troubles that Onodera Publishing is facing, and he has offered to merge your company with ours so that your company may be brought out of bankruptcy."

"Shuudansha publishing is offering to be our guarantor?" Mr Onodera inquired.

"In a way, yes," Haitani laughed. _Just a little more,_ he thought, "However, I do have one condition."

The Onoderas' were beyond excited. "Anything!" Mr Onodera shouted, "I'll do anything your CEO asks!"

"It pertains to myself, rather than my company."

"No matter! You have saved us from a life of misery, we will do anything to repay you. What is your condition?" Mr Onodera's eyes were full of admiration as he gazed at Haitani.

Haitani dropped the bomb. "I ask for your son, Ritsu Onodera's hand in marriage."

The entire room was silent. Haitani could see that the Onoderas' were conflicting, so he decided to push it towards himself a little more.

"Pardon me, but I happened to hear that the Kohinata family has er, refused the engagement so I thought I may be able to be of assistance, you see." He spoke as politely as possible, carefully watching the Onoderas' reactions.

Mrs Onodera spoke, "It's just that… I know An chan loves Ritsu and he loves her the same way, so I really don't want to deny them of their future happiness. After all, they've known each other since they were children so she obviously has his best interests in mind. Besides, my Ritsu is a man."

Haitani smiled again. "Ah, but was your engagement not an arranged marriage in itself? And excuse me for my rudeness but where I come from; gender is not an issue in marriage."

The whole room was silent again.

Finally, Mr Onodera sighed. "Very well, Haitani-san," to which Mrs Onodera gasped. He turned to his wife, and whispered, "This man will save us from all our miseries, I think we owe him this much." Mrs Onodera sighed in resignation and slowly nodded, sealing their contract.

Facing Haitani again, Mr Onodera took a deep breath. "Haitani-san, I consent to give you my son's hand in marriage."

Around the corner, all An could hear was the sound of her own heart breaking in two.

* * *

Ritsu began to come around when he felt a coolness on his forehead.

Still groggy, his vision swarmed. _A… skull?_ Ritsu thought. _No, two people. _His eyes began to focus and he realised that what he initially thought was a skull were two heads staring down at him.

With a start, he bolted upright, staring at the two people… no, he supposed he shouldn't call them people. They both looked human enough, were it not for the hole in the heart of the figure on the left, and an arrow in the head of the one on the right.

Ritsu scrambled, but found that he could not find the strength to stand, and instead collapsed in a heap back to the ground. He took the time to take in his surroundings. He appeared to be in an office building of some sort. The whole office was, to his horror, pink. The wallpaper was pink, the desks were pink, the whole place was fucking pink. What was worse, stuffed animals with missing body parts were visible on every open surface of the desks that were not covered in papers.

"Whoa, are you okay?" the boy on the right asked, concerned. With renewed vigour, he turned around (giving Ritsu full view of the arrow lodged into his head) and yelled, "Hatori! He's awake!"

The man named Hatori strode forward, and Ritsu stared like a fish out of water at the knife stuck in his back. Hatori reached out a hand, and Ritsu instinctively tried to lean back as much as possible. He placed his hand on Ritsu's forehead and Ritsu noted how cold the hand seemed to be. He removed his hand and murmured, "His fever seems to be gone."

The boy with the arrow grinned, "I know, right? Yay we have a new arrival!" while the man on the left with the bullet holes merely kept smiling (Ritsu noticed that the guy hadn't stopped smiling ever since he awoke).

Regaining his senses, Ritsu's eyes widened. "What… what the hell is this place? Am I dead? Who are you people? Why am I here?" In an act of self defence, he grabbed the knife in Hatori's back and tried to yank it out.

"No no no not Hatori's knife!" the boy with the arrow yelled, horrified. He tried to pry Ritsu's fingers from the knife (still lodged in Hatori's back) and once again, Ritsu shuddered at the cold touch.

The man with the bullet hole spoke for the first time. "You're in the Emerald office of Marukawa Shoten in the Land of the Dead, no you're not actually dead, I'm Mino, this is Kisa," pointing to the grinning boy with the arrow, "Hatori," he nodded at the ever so calm, stoic Hatori trying to rearrange his knife back in its original position, "and you're here because Takano san brought you here."

"T-Takano san?" Ritsu stammered. As if on cue, a growl rippled through the whole office and an angry voice could be heard yelling, "HAHH? WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU ON ABOUT? IF YOU HAVE TIME TO FUCKING CRY THEN GET YOUR FUCKING STORYBOARDS IN ON TIME!" before the sound of a receiver being slammed down was heard.

"Speak of the devil," Mino chuckled. The man named Takano san came into view, and Ritsu could not believe his eyes. Because this was the very man that he had (accidentally) proposed to, the man that had chased him through the forest, the very man that had _kissed_ him.

Seeing Ritsu awake, Takano's initial fury was replaced with an expression of mischief that made Ritsu squirm. Pulling a cigarette from his pocket and lighting it with a flame that appeared with a click of his fingers, a devilish smile appeared on his handsome features.

"Ah, you're awake. I think it's safe to say you enjoyed that kiss, seeing as your cheeks are pretty damn red."

Ritsu screamed.

* * *

Takano at first thinks they're "new" lovers, but are they really? ;D

I don't know much about bankruptcy, debt and guarantors so I apologize if I made a mess of Haitani's situation, hopefully the merging companies bit makes at least a little sense LOL

Uhh and I apologize for having so little Takano in this chapter again, so I'll opt for more of him next chapter.

And also, hopefully nothing's too out of character =="

Please review!


	4. Chapter 4

Here's the next chapter of Romancing a Corpse!

* * *

**Chapter 4**

"Welcome to the Emerald Department!" Mino and Kisa chorused, while Hatori stood expressionless. Ritsu frowned. _Was this some kind of joke?_ he thought, _I mean if they're dead, they should be, well, dead._

Mino smiled, "You're thinking about why the dead are so alive, right?"

Ritsu started, "Y-yeah…"

At his desk, Takano snorted, "Tch, what an idiot." as he ruffled through huge stacks of paper on his desk.

"Excuse me?" Ritsu glared daggers in Takano's direction, to which Takano merely responded by tilting his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Was I wrong?"

"Totally!"

To his surprise, Kisa and Mino burst out in peals of laughter, while Hatori let the smallest of smiles graze his lips. "Aww, you guys act like a married couple!" Kisa gushed.

"W-W-WHAT?" Ritsu spluttered. He was getting embarrassed by a bunch of dead people that looked young but had probably been dead for a hundred years or so.

"Nah, not really, Takano san here has only been dead for two years," Kisa explained cheerfully. _Oh shit, I said it out loud._

"Actually Kisa, this guy and I are already married," Takano held up his left hand, the gold wedding ring clearly visible on his ring finger.

"What! Takano san! You got married to a living guy and you never told me? WHAT IS HAPPENING WITH THIS WORLD?!" Kisa rushed over to Takano and inspected the ring on his finger. "It's so pretty! Hey hey tell us, how exactly did you meet this guy?"

"Well Kisa…" As Takano began to narrate his experiences, he was interrupted by a loud shriek from Ritsu. "Firstly, we are not married! Secondly, I don't even know this guy! Thirdly, why is this whole office pink?!" Ritsu was in near hysterics.

The entire Emerald office was silent, when Hatori cleared his throat, "Perhaps we should start with self introductions."

"I'll go first!" Kisa yelled, excited, "My name is Shouta Kisa! I'm a fellow editor here in Emerald. I look really young but I'm actually," Kisa paused, "30 years old. Well, 30 when I died anyway. I've been here for quite a while, but I forgot how long exactly. Um, as you might've guessed, the arrow here," he raised a hand and tugged at the arrow embedded in his head, "was the cause of my death. See, I had this stalker ex who thought he was Cupid or something and shot an arrow at my head because he thought it would make me love him. Well unfortunately nooo it backfired and I died." Kisa huffed, and plopped onto his office chair. Ritsu sympathised with this boy- er, man, now that he knew he was 30, and turned to Mino.

"I'm Kanade Mino, I'm an editor here. I… don't really remember anything other than my name. Oh and the fact that I was shot," he gestured to the bullet wound at the left side of his chest. Ritsu shivered as he realised the man was still smiling even when he was talking about his death.

Hatori was next, "I'm Yoshiyuki Hatori. I'm the second Editor-in-Chief of Emerald. I've been dead for about… 10 years or so? Not too sure about that. My childhood friend and lover was trying to cook dinner for me when he waved his knife around and it accidentally got stuck in my back. He was a horrible cook so I completely understand," as he said that, he checked his phone and his eyes widened, "sorry I'll be back in a minute, Chiharu Yoshikawa is having trouble with _her_ deadlines again," and with that, he stepped out while holding his phone to his ear.

Ritsu tried not to wince at the knife implanted in Hatori's retreating back and suddenly felt ashamed of himself for attempting to pull it out earlier. "So um, what happened to his… lover?" he asked.

"Suicided. At least they're together now," Takano replied, not looking up.

"Oh… I-I see…"

"Takano san, it's your turn now!" Kisa chirruped.

"Hm, is it now?" Takano murmured, glancing at the trio. He took off his glasses, "Masamune Takano. Editor-in-Chief of Emerald. 25 when I died and I've been dead for 2 years. Was about to get married to an ex colleague when all he wanted was my money. Being the idiot I was, I went and brought all my money, and then he strangled me," Takano paused, meeting Ritsu's stunned emerald eyes before continuing, "You can still see the dents from the asshole's handprints on my neck. He buried me under the cherry blossom tree where we agreed to meet, which was probably the nicest goddamned thing he ever did," he scoffed, "Dunno why I agreed to marry him in the first place."

Kisa sniffed, "Takano san's story is the saddest of all of ours. I mean look, he's gonna be wearing that tux forever, in memory of the love that never was."

"Shut up, Kisa."

"That's why around here, he's known as the Corpse Groom!" Mino piped, prompting Takano to roll his eyes and resume his paperwork.

But Ritsu was shocked. "Corpse? But aren't you guys ghosts?"

Takano raised his eyebrow, "Do we look like floating transparent shit to you?"

"I-I guess not… but in the woods! You were really pale!" protested Ritsu

Takano rubbed the bridge of his nose, "You dumbass, it was the lighting. Shit lighting made me look paler than I already am. But we're all corpses here. No ghosts."

Ritsu fumed, "Who are you calling a dumbass you –!" he was interrupted by Hatori, who had just finished his phone call. "You haven't introduced yourself yet."

"Oh yeah! Tell us about yourself! And how did you get married to Takano san?" Kisa was practically jumping up and down with anticipation.

Ritsu sighed, seeing no way out. "My name is Ritsu Onodera. I'm 25 years old, and I'm not dead, so I've been told," earning a light chuckle from all the occupants in the room, "I worked at my father's publishing company before it went bankrupt; I edited literature," his self introduction had Takano interested. "You've worked at a publishing company?"

"Er yes, that's what I just said."

"You edited literature?"

"Stop repeating what I said!"

"Alright continue, tell everyone how you met me," Ritsu huffed in exasperation at Takano's knowing quirk of his lips. "I was walking in the woods when this… this gho- I mean corpse," he shifted his eyes as Takano shot him a glare, "rose out of the ground wearing my wedding ring."

"That's not right," Takano admonished, "you were reciting wedding vows to me and you put the ring on my finger. Thus you freed me from a life of being underground, though I have no idea why you looked so scared for if you were planning on marrying me in the first place."

"I wasn't planning on marrying y-!" Ritsu was interrupted by Takano, "Anyway he was running away from me and he ran into a tree. That bit was fucking hilarious."

At this, the entire floor roared with laughter. Ritsu jumped – he didn't realise there were other people, er, _dead_ people here apart from the department he had just gotten acquainted with.

"Of course there are!" laughed Kisa, "we're not the only department in Marukawa!" Ritsu mentally face-palmed. He had said his thoughts out loud again.

"You haven't answered my other question yet," Ritsu grit out. The whole department was silent (pretty silent considering everyone was dead). "What's with this crapload of pink?"

"Takano san believes that in order to understand our readers, we must attempt to duplicate the environment so that it is as similar as possible to the genre we edit," explained Mino (and smiling as always).

"…And pray tell, what exactly is this genre you guys edit?"

It was answered by all 4 members of the Emerald department simultaneously: "Shoujo manga, duh!"

_OH…_

"You'd better get used to the pink, newbie -"

_MY…_

"- Because from today, you'll be the 5th editor of Emerald," declared Takano with a smug smile.

_GOD…_

"Welcome to the Maiden Club!"

Ritsu wanted to die.

"And make yourself at home in the Land of the Dead!"

…on second thought, never mind.

* * *

When Ritsu next woke up, he opened his eyes to a ceiling.

Surprised, he jolted upright and looked around himself. He was in an unfamiliar apartment of sorts, and it looked quite clean and well-kept. He didn't recognise the apartment, but he thought it must've been a spare guest room in An chan's mansion that happened to be furnished like an apartment. Breathing a sigh of relief, he flopped back so that he was lying on the sofa once again…

…to gaze upside down, into a pair of very familiar honey gold eyes belonging to a very familiar corpse he'd had the misfortune of meeting.

Ritsu gave a loud yelp and rolled off the side of the sofa, landing on the floor. Rubbing his head, he sat up to see Takano pressing his hand against his ear.

"Have some consideration for my ears, dammit!" Takano growled, frustrated.

"I thought you were dead." stated Ritsu, to which Takano replied, "Doesn't mean I can't hear! Geez, I guess this is the thanks I get after carrying your sorry ass back to my apartment. Do you know how heavy you are?"

Ritsu stared. "Y-you… carried me?"

"Yeah, you fell asleep in the office. Couldn't just leave you there."

"Oh… thanks." Ritsu suddenly felt shy for a moment, which disappeared as quickly as it had come when he heard Takano say, "Better be."

An awkward silence fell upon them soon after. Ritsu didn't know whether to keep silent or to start a conversation. And if he did talk, what would they talk about? He had never felt so stuck before.

"You haven't changed." Takano commented casually, as if they were merely discussing the weather.

"Sorry?" Ritsu was sorely confused. "I don't believe we've met before."

Takano rested his chin on the palm of his hand as he gazed at Ritsu. Ritsu was shocked at the amount of emotion swimming in those honey eyes, even though their owner was meant to be dead. He glimpsed pain, forlornness, gentleness, longing, nostalgia…

_Nostalgia._

"I guess you really don't remember me." He sighed, almost as if he were tired, releasing Ritsu from his gaze. His eyes fell upon a blue medium sized box wrapped in a pink ribbon. He bent down, took hold of the box in his hands and handed it to Ritsu.

"For me?" Surprised, Ritsu gingerly took the box from Takano.

"Yeah, it's a wedding present." Ritsu inwardly slapped himself. Oh right… he was married to a corpse. Not legally, but married he was. This was the consequence of practising his wedding vows in a graveyard at night. _Ugh, what have I gotten myself into?_

Bringing the box up to his ears, Ritsu shook it. He was surprised to hear various odd sounds inside the box, as if a variety of small objects had been placed inside and were rolling around as he shook the box. Abruptly, the box began shaking by itself. Terrified, Ritsu dropped it onto the floor and its contents splayed out onto the ground.

It was a pile of bones.

Confused and scared, he turned to look at Takano sitting next to him when the bones began moving by themselves. They rearranged themselves in a particular formation, and Ritsu was startled to see the skeleton of a cat. A collar lay near his feet and he picked it up. The name 'Sorata' was clearly embellished into the collar. Astonished, Ritsu stared at the cat.

'Sorata,' he whispered. The cat meowed softly. 'Sorata,' he called, loudly this time. The cat purred and began rubbing its skeleton frame against Ritsu's legs. Ritsu could only gape in wonderment.

"Cute, isn't he?" chuckled Takano beside him.

"W-where did you… how… why do you have this cat? It belonged to my… my… first boyfriend…" Ritsu's thoughts were incredibly jumbled as he studied Takano's face. If Takano san had this cat, then where was its owner? Where was... he?

A gentle smile spread across Takano's face, lighting up his eyes and leaving Ritsu at a loss for words as he noticed how truly beautiful Takano's smile was (He was surprised that corpses could actually smile like this in the first place). It was different from his mischievous smirks and little quirks of his mouth. It was a smile. A small smile, but genuine nonetheless.

Takano enunciated the words carefully, "This was my cat."

_What?_

"My parents divorced in my third year of high school… this was back when I was alive, of course," Takano continued, "So my name was changed to Takano. Before that, my last name was Saga. Masamune Saga."

_Masamune… Saga?_

_Masamune Saga._

"Saga… sempai?" Ritsu didn't want to believe. He _couldn't_ believe. That his beloved Saga Sempai was… was…

_Dead._

"Yes, Ritsu. My name was Masamune Saga, and now I am dead."

* * *

Why does Takano sound more alive than dead now :S

I kinda found it weird when Kisa introduced himself as 'Shouta Kisa' instead of the other way around, but I guess in English you never hear people put their last names in front of their first :L

IM SO SORRY SORATA IS A SKELETON CAT OMG D:

I hope my story isn't becoming too different from the Corpse Bride film, but I really didn't feel like including a bunch of dancing skeletons bursting into song when Ritsu wakes up and I seriously didn't want to make any of the characters headless so this is where I veered off course. On second thoughts, it would've been pretty fun to make Hatori dance Gangnam LOL.

And yes I'm keeping the hatsukoi aspect where Ritsu and Takano used to date in high school... man that was complicated to write HAHA. But I think it's safe to say that Ritsu likes Takano more than Victor likes Emily in the film yay (Y)

Goodnight readers, and don't forget to review!


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5 is done!

* * *

**Chapter 5**

The man he had accidentally 'married', was the same person as his first love back in high school.

And he was dead.

"H-how did it happen? You can't have died!" Ritsu kept his eyes on the skeleton Sorata, whose skeleton head was gazing up at him.

"Guess I just died young," Takano answered nonchalantly, "And I was stupid to have believed the guy when he said to bring all my money to meet him. Well it wasn't like my life was worth living anyway, after you ran off like that."

"T-That's because you laughed! You laughed when I asked you if we were going out!" Ritsu shouted, meeting Takano's eyes abruptly. Takano's eyes widened as he saw the tears forming in Ritsu's eyes, spilling down his cheeks as he let out a soft sob. "And now… you're dead…"

A second later Ritsu found himself against a strong chest, arms wrapped around him as Takano rested his head on top of Ritsu's soft brown hair. The arms, the chest, everything felt cold, yet ironically it made Ritsu feel slightly warm inside.

"It's not that bad. Dying, that is," Takano said, softly, "My heart might've stopped beating, but right now, it feels like I could actually be alive."

Ritsu felt a blush creeping up his cheeks as Takano went on, "I never stopped loving you all those years. I'm dead now, but if it meant that I could see you in death, then I'm glad I'm here."

_If he loved me, then why did he laugh?_ wondered Ritsu. _His actions are too different from his words._ _Anyway, I can't… I can't marry a corpse. Even if he was my first love… I can't marry a dead man. I can't stay here any longer._

He suddenly had an idea. "I… I want to go home," he whispered, "I want to go see my parents... there's quite a few complications here and there but they don't know that I'm here… so they'll probably be looking for me." This was only half truth, however. He did want to see his parents, but more importantly, he wanted to be free of this place. He didn't want to be around this dead man who happened to be his lost love of 10 years. Everything had happened so quickly, he just couldn't handle it.

Takano was silent for a few moments as they stayed in an embrace. Ritsu wondered if the man had fallen asleep… but the dead didn't fall asleep, did they?

"There's a way, actually," he finally said, letting go of Ritsu and running a pale hand through his own hair. "Do you want to see them that badly?"

"Yes." Ritsu tried to sound as calm as possible, but inside he was jumping for joy at the prospect of returning to his own world. Even if it meant he had to marry An chan, who he knew wasn't the one for him, it was better than marrying a corpse… right?

_Yes,_ he decided, _I'm alive, I don't belong here,_ as Takano began to power up his laptop. Without turning around, he said, "Isaka san's been here longer than anyone else, so he'll know how to send us there."

'Us'. Figures Takano wouldn't let him go that easily. Oh well, it'll have to do for now, and then he could probably go into hiding so that Takano would never find him.

"Give me a minute, I'll just Skype him now," muttered Takano as he began to type in his password.

Ritsu was appalled. "Since when do dead people use Skype?"

Takano rolled his eyes as he scrolled through his contacts, "You'd be surprised at how technologically advanced the dead are."

"Now that you mention it, you guys have phones… and a publishing company. And excuse me for saying so, but I thought your apartment would be rotten or something," Ritsu mused, "It's really clean for a corpse."

"That's just me, but then again, a lot of the dead I know are neat freaks," Takano seemed amused at Ritsu's expectations. He clicked on a particular Skype contact. "Ah, here he is. Good evening, Isaka san."

An unfamiliar face popped up on the screen, and Ritsu jumped. "Yo Takano! It's been a while! What can I do for you?" The man called Isaka san beamed at Takano. Ritsu noted the dagger plunged into his ribs and gave an audible wince. This drew Isaka's attention as he turned to him, his smile stretching even wider, if that was even possible.

"Hey! Are you Takano's new husband? Oh my God, so the rumours were TRUE!" Isaka let out a dramatic gasp, while Takano cleared his throat to regain Isaka's attention again.

"Sorry to bother you at such a late hour, but my husband and I would like to make a visit _upstairs_," he explained, sending Ritsu a glance, who forced a smile at the 'husband' part.

"Oh no, that's fine! There's no such thing as a late hour, you should know that, Takano! After all the dead never sleep! Ahhh, I love being dead!" Isaka sighed contently. He turned back to the screen only to see Ritsu's wide eyes and Takano's raised eyebrow. "Hahaha… sorry, sorry," he laughed, rubbing the back of his head. "Now where were we?"

"I was saying, we'd like to make a visit to the Land of the Living."

"Easy! Why didn't you say so before, Takano? Wait there." Ritsu and Takano watched as Isaka jumped off his chair and began rummaging in his nearby drawers.

"Ah, here it is!" exclaimed Isaka as he carried a heavy leather-bound book back to his laptop. "The Ukrainian Haunting Spell. This is the one."

As he began to skim over the pages, his right hand reached for a bottle of what looked like red wine, while simultaneously his left hand grabbed a clear wine goblet. Pouring himself a glass of the red liquid, he downed the cup before letting out a burp. Then, he left his laptop once more and Ritsu and Takano heard a 'plop' sound, as if a bird were laying an egg. Isaka once more returned to the screen and –surprise surprise- in his hands he held an egg.

"Now this is gonna be a bit hard since we're on laptops, but hopefully you two should end up in the forest, in the graveyard."

Takano nodded, and Ritsu stiffened as he remembered what happened the last time he had been there.

"Now remember, lovebirds, say 'Hopscotch' when you want to come back!" Isaka sang. "Have fun!" And with that, he cracked the egg, holding it up to the camera. All Ritsu and Takano could see was a thick golden smoke, which eventually surrounded them. Next minute, they found themselves in the forest graveyard.

"The place, huh. Sure brings back memories," Takano commented, stepping over a gravestone to reach a tree. With a start, Ritsu realised it was a cherry blossom tree. The cherry blossom tree.

"This was my resting place. Not that I got much rest." Settling himself so that he was leaning against it, Takano eyed Ritsu. "Well? Aren't you going to go?"

Ritsu was startled. "You… you're going to let me go?"

"Go see your parents, if that's what you mean," Takano crinkled his brows in slight confusion, "After all, we're married, so you're going to have to come back."

_I should've known he would never let me go permanently. _

"…Unless, you want me to go with you to meet your parents?" Takano smirked, to which Ritsu blushed hotly, "N-no! Not at all! What would you do if the townspeople saw you?"

"Relax, I wasn't planning on going anywhere." A chuckle, and then silence. "Go see your parents, but come right back. Please."

Ritsu's heart skipped a beat at the last word. "Y-yeah, I'll be… right back," he stammered, backing away.

"Oh yeah, Onodera, one more thing." Takano called.

Ritsu stopped in his tracks, listening.

"It's been on my mind for a while, but when you said I laughed when you asked me if I loved you…" Ritsu wanted to hit himself for bringing up such a painful memory in the first place. "…I think I laughed because I was thinking, 'why is he even asking something like this after all we've done?'" Ritsu's heart pounded in his ears. He couldn't believe what he had just heard. "So… I do apologize for that. But the rest of it, running away and all that, was completely your fault."

Ritsu blinked. And then, "My fault?! How was that my fault? I mean I do feel bad that I wasn't clear enough about it, but I really meant what I said back then... about being in love with you… and stuff." Blushing, he turned away.

Takano was surprised indeed. But he masked his surprise with feigned apathy. "Is that so?"

"Y-yes! It is! Now goodbye!" Leaving Takano still leaning against the tree, Ritsu ran off into the woods as he increased the distance between himself and his former (dead) lover. In his haste, he didn't notice a gravestone at his feet and almost immediately found himself face to face with the dirt ground as he tripped over it. Behind him, Takano snorted, shaking his head in wonder at Ritsu's klutziness as he watched him stagger to his feet before dashing away as if he'd just seen a ghost.

_Get a grip Ritsu,_ he told himself, _Takano san might've been your first love, but he's dead now! You can't be with a dead man! You're supposed to get married to An chan!_

As he brushed away all thoughts of Takano, deep inside, something tugged painfully at Ritsu's heart.

* * *

Uh, I just rewatched Corpse Bride and I couldn't help noticing how this fic is drifting further and further away from the original plot LOL  
And don't ask how golden fumes can be transferred from one laptop to another ROFLMAO

Next chapter will feature a misunderstanding, so keep a lookout for it!

Keep reviewing please ^^


	6. Chapter 6

Cheers to Chapter 6!

* * *

**Chapter 6**

Reaching An chan's mansion, Ritsu couldn't believe he had made it this far. He knew his parents were staying at An chan's place rather than their own family home, so he prepared to knock on the huge double doors as he stood in front of An chan's doorway. Hearing voices on the other side, he quickly pressed himself against the wall next to the door. Fortunately, no one came out, so he pressed his ear against the door and tried to listen to what they were saying on the other side. His blood ran cold as he heard bits and pieces of Mr and Mrs Kohinata's conversation.

"…if you ask me, I think the Onoderas' deserved it. Crashed their carriage while they were looking for their good-for-nothing son…"

"…don't even know why this marriage was arranged in the first place, so glad we broke it off…"

Ritsu couldn't believe his ears. His parents were dead? His engagement had been broken off?

How long was he gone?

He had to find An chan.

* * *

Sitting in the cherry blossom tree, Takano sighed as he shifted into a more comfortable position. Ritsu had been gone for quite a while and he longed for him to return. Holding his left hand up to the moon, he gazed at the gold band on his finger. It was simple as it didn't have any intricate designs whatsoever, but to Takano it was perfect. He smiled wryly as he positioned his hand in order to catch the moonlight at the right angle. It had been a while since he'd had time like this to himself, and while he couldn't say he didn't miss it, it was beginning to get a little lonesome.

Resting his head on the tree trunk, Takano closed his eyes as he thought of Ritsu, his Ritsu. When he had first put the ring on Takano's finger and thus freed him from spending an eternity buried underground, Takano had thought he looked familiar. It wasn't until he kissed him that he realised, the lips tasted and felt so like… his Ritsu Oda. His first love, who he had never really stopped loving. As he pondered about his long lost love, a soft breeze blew around him, scattering pink sakura petals on top of the gravestones in the forest. He watched as a few petals landed on his own unmarked grave, feeling a peace taking over his conscience.

And then his phone rang.

The obnoxious ringtone (that Kisa had set for him when he tampered with the phone's settings) sliced into the silence like a quick knife. Cursing loudly, Takano pulled out his phone, glanced at the caller ID, and brought the phone up to his ear. "Yokozawa."

"Masamune." The voice on the other end sounded pissed. "Isaka san came into the office yelling about how he'd sent you and your 'husband' to the Land of the Living."

"That's right. What about it?"

"Where are you now?"

"In a tree."

"Huh?"

"I'm sitting in a tree." Takano inwardly laughed at the absurdity of his statement.

There was a pause on the other end, before Yokozawa sarcastically reasoned, "I don't suppose your husband is sitting in the tree with you."

"Said he was going to see his parents."

"Masamune, how long has he been gone?"

"Before Isaka san sauntered into the office, I'm sure."

"That was over half an hour ago. Masamune, I have a bad feeling about this."

Takano didn't want to admit that he'd had the same bad feeling for a while.

Hopping down from the tree, he muttered, "I won't be long," before pressing the 'END' button on his phone. He then began to make his way towards the town.

* * *

Climbing up the vines of a pillar had probably been the hardest thing in Ritsu's life.

But it didn't matter, because he had made it up to An chan's balcony, where she had found him (albeit being extremely shocked) and asked him where he had been, to which he answered he'd gotten lost in the forest and stayed at a stranger's place in the middle of the woods (not a complete lie). Now he was listening to her recount everything that had happened whilst he'd been gone.

Apparently he had been gone for 3 days, driving his parents half-mad with worry, as they proceeded to search for him in the pouring rain. They had gone through every inch of the town and had begun to search on the outskirts of town when their carriage driver suffered a severe coughing fit from the cold and rain. He had died, falling off the carriage as a result and leaving the carriage with no driver. Eventually, the carriage had fallen into a ditch, killing Mr and Mrs Onodera as well. Ritsu mourned for them as did An.

"Just then, I heard your parents… I mean, I didn't mean to eavesdrop but I heard them at the main door… they said we weren't engaged anymore… or something," Ritsu bit his lip, not looking at An.

"It's true," An whispered softly. "I was there when he offered the proposition."

"H-He?" Ritsu gasped, "W-what? Who? Why would my parents…?"

"His name is Shin Haitani, apparently he works for Shuudansha Publishing," An told him, eyes filling with tears, "He's supposed to merge companies with your father, to bring him out of bankruptcy. He asked to marry you in exchange for that."

"Why would mother and father do that? To marry me to someone I've never even met…" Ritsu held back a sob as he trembled.

"I think things were looking pretty bad because my mother and father broke off the engagement. I'm sorry, Ricchan."

Of course, Ritsu understood how dire the situation had been for his parents. But to marry him off to some unknown stranger after he'd offered them unconfirmed promises of a better future? When said unknown stranger was a guy? Ritsu pressed a hand to his mouth as he processed everything he'd just been told.

He heard a light tapping sound at the balcony door behind him, which he ignored, assuming it was just a tree branch against the glass. Resolute, he took a deep breath, stood up and shouted, "I can't marry him! I don't love him!"

The tapping sound suddenly stopped. Ritsu saw An chan cover her mouth in shock.

Ritsu suddenly felt a foreboding. He turned around slowly. Standing there was Takano, the Corpse Groom.

He had his arms crossed, a glare marring his features. He pushed open the balcony door, taking long, slow, steps, advancing menacingly towards Ritsu. An had gone pale, staring at the corpse who had just appeared in her room. Takano stopped right in front of Ritsu, his height imposing down on Ritsu's shorter frame.

Takano's mouth contorted into a sneer as he deliberated every word, "So everything was a lie, wasn't it?"

And realisation dawned on Ritsu. The tapping sound at the window had been Takano. How the sound was there just before his own proclamation. Takano must've heard it, thought Ritsu was referring to him, and misunderstood.

Shaking his head, Ritsu stared back at Takano. "You're misunderstanding."

"Oh, it's a misunderstanding, is it? So I've also misunderstood when you said you wanted to see your parents, because instead you're here seeing some girl."

"I can explain!"

"Like hell you can. Hopscotch."

Ritsu felt his world spinning as a wave of nausea overcame him. When he felt the dizziness ebbing away, he realised he was back in Takano's apartment, in the Land of the Dead, standing next to a fuming Takano.

"I thought you were going to see your parents," Takano accused, staring pointedly at Ritsu.

"I couldn't find my parents! That girl was my fia-… childhood friend!" Ritsu was beyond irritated. He'd just found himself back at the very place he'd tried so hard to get away from.

Takano was slightly surprised, but he was by no means cooled down. "Then where were your parents?" he inquired angrily.

"That's none of your business!" yelled Ritsu as he glared at Takano.

That was the last straw for Takano. "Fine." With a snarl, he turned straight towards the entrance hall, yanked open the door and slammed it shut with a BANG behind him, angry footsteps echoing down the hallway as he let out a flow of curses.

Ritsu let out a deep sigh as he collapsed on Takano's couch, absentmindedly petting Sorata's skeleton head as the cat gazed inquiringly up at him. He did feel slightly guilty for making Takano mad, but it wasn't Ritsu's fault that Takano had appeared at the same time he yelled he wouldn't marry someone he didn't love. Anyway it definitely wasn't Ritsu's fault that Takano had to jump to conclusions about him seeing An chan instead of his parents. His parents were dead, for fuck's sake!

_Ugh, _he thought, _why am I getting so worked up for if I wanted to have nothing to do with Takano san in the first place? Why do I want Takano san to know I wasn't referring to him just then? It's almost like… like I'm in love with him… all over again._

_No, no, no, _Ritsu violently shook his head, _I just want to clear up this misunderstanding so we have nothing between us. Anyone would do that._

_But why… do I want him to understand so badly?_

Glancing at Sorata, he murmured, "I should go after him, shouldn't I?"

Sorata mewled in response.

* * *

Yesterday was the hottest day in Sydney's history - 45.8 degrees Celsius fuuu! Luckily the evening was much cooler and the temperature dropped down quite a bit. Also found a tiny frog in my backyard! It was sahh cute (first time seeing a frog around Sydney) but what the hell was it doing in my backyard?

Anyhow I'm sorry for leaving Ritsu and Takano on a bad note here, but they'll make up next chapter so rest assured!

Thanks a million for the amazing reviews - you are all awesome and I appreciate it so much!


	7. Chapter 7

Sorry for the late update, but here is Chapter 7!

* * *

**Chapter 7**

"But Mother! Ricchan is married to a dead ma- person. A corpse. I saw him, he was standing right there!"

After Ritsu had been kidnapped, An was in a state of disbelief. She tore down the staircase and convinced her parents to follow her to her room so that she could point out where Ritsu had stood when he had been abducted.

Instead of being worried for Ritsu's sake, An's mother instead gasped at the revelation that had just sunk in. That Ritsu, the worthless, good-for-nothing Ritsu Onodera, had been in her daughter's room. "What was Ritsu doing in your room?"

"Mother, like I said, he was lost in the forest! And then he came back, and then he was kidnapped! By a corpse!" An was pleading as she gripped her hair in her hands.

"What a scandalous young man!" Mrs Kohinata ignored her daughter completely

"No! I'm begging you, please listen to me! Ricchan needs our help!" An was in hysterics, pacing back and forth frantically as she tried to reason with her mother.

"She's gone completely mad!" An's mother concluded before turning to her daughter, "You are to stay in your room and reflect upon your actions of bringing a man into your room. Until then, the door will be locked and the windows will be barred. And when you are completely sane once more, I do not wish to hear this nonsense about that low-life Onodera heir being kidnapped by a corpse!" And with that, Mrs Kohinata held up a key, closed the door and locked it from the outside.

An slowly sank to her knees, burying her sobbing face into her hands. She had to help Ricchan someway or another, but she didn't know how when she couldn't even exit her own room.

Lurking in the hallway outside An's room, a furtive grin made its way upon Haitani's face as the gears in his head began to turn. _Things are going to be a lot more interesting from now on._

* * *

Man, was Takano pissed.

He stalked down the streets of the dead, glaring at anyone and anything that happened to pass him. He felt the familiar sharp sting of betrayal as he thought of what had happened earlier. He'd believed Ritsu when he said he was going to see his parents. He'd believed Ritsu when he said he was going to come back. And what did he find? The same Ritsu confiding in some living girl and having no obvious intention of returning. And he even had the nerve to blurt out he didn't want to marry Takano, despite being the one to put the ring on his finger.

_What the fuck, I just don't get him! _In his anger, Takano slammed his fist against a building and tried to distract himself by imagining the pain he'd have gotten were he still alive.

All he got was a reminder of the dull ache in his chest as his thoughts trailed back to Ritsu. Growling in frustration, he stormed into the nearest bar he could find to drink away his sorrows.

_I wonder if a heart can still break, once it's stopped beating._

Pushing open the door to the bar, Takano was relieved to find it relatively empty. He looked around for a secluded spot when a familiar face caught his eye. Isaka was urgently beckoning to him from a seat at the counter as Takano sighed and slid into the seat beside him.

"A beer, please." Takano nodded at the bartender.

"Takano, we may have a problem." Isaka traced the rim of his wine glass thoughtfully.

"Not now, Isaka san, let me drink for a while."

"No Takano, listen to me. This concerns the marriage of you and your husband."

Takano paused in the midst of raising his bottle to his lips and turned slightly to face Isaka. "My marriage to Onodera? What of it?"

"The vows state that you are married till death do you part."

"I'm aware of that, Isaka san." Takano took a huge gulp of the beer in his hand, not sure what Isaka was getting at.

"However, death has already parted you. You are already dead, Takano." Isaka answered solemnly.

Takano froze, painfully meeting Isaka's eyes as realisation dawned on him. "You don't mean…"

Isaka nodded. "Ritsu Onodera would have to die."

The beer bottle fell from Takano's fingers as it landed on the ground, shattering into a thousand pieces.

"It can't be…" Takano couldn't comprehend anything other than Isaka's words echoing in his ears.

…_till death do you part… you are already dead, Takano… Ritsu Onodera would have to die…_

"I'm afraid so. He'd have to drink from the Wine of Ages. It's a poison strong enough to kill him instantly."

"Where… where would I find this… this Wine of Ages?"

"I have it here." and from inside his jacket Isaka produced a medium bottle of midnight black liquid, marked as poison by a skull printed on the bottle. "This will stop his heart forever. Only then, will he be free to give it to you."

His hands shaking, Takano reached out for the bottle, then abruptly pulled them back. "I.. I can't, Isaka san. I can't do this to him. No, I won't do this to him."

Isaka however, was not deferred. Pressing the bottle into Takano's hands, he softly chided him, "Do you really want to be separated, now that you've finally found him? Do you really want to lose him again?"

"I…"

"Think about it, Takano. It's all up to you, but remember that forever is an awfully long time to be spending alone." With that, Isaka straightened up, shone a bright smile towards the bartender as if he hadn't just been discussing Ways to Kill Someone #52, and announced, "Another glass of red wine, please!"

Standing up, Takano bowed stiffly towards Isaka. "I'll think about it," he muttered, before moving towards a piano in the corner.

* * *

Ritsu sighed heavily as he trudged through the streets. He had to admit, the streets weren't as gross or rotten as he'd expected the Land of the Dead to be. The only thing unnerving about this world was the citizens of the dead eyeing him strangely as he walked about aimlessly.

He knew he had to find Takano, to apologize for his earlier snappish behaviour and clear up the various misunderstandings between them. He hadn't meant for Takano to hear the last part he said to An, and frankly he didn't know why he felt he HAD to make up with him.

_I should probably tell him the truth. _

Ritsu's ears perked up as he picked up on the faint sound of a piano. The notes sounded disconnected, separate from one another as Ritsu began to walk in the direction the tune was coming from. It sounded as if the pianist were trying to convey their emotions of hurt and loneliness through the melody they were playing.

At last, he stopped in front of a bar. The music seemed to emanate from inside and from where Ritsu was standing, he could actually feel the sorrow emitted from every note. Pushing open the door cautiously, he poked his head inside the empty bar, only to see Takano sitting at the piano in the far corner.

Takano sensed the door opening and glanced up to see an awed Ritsu standing in the doorway. Narrowing his eyes as he realised it was the last person he wanted to see, Takano refocused his attention on his fingers as he continued to press the same detached keys making up the sombre melody.

Ritsu could tell Takano was still annoyed about what had happened, but he found himself unable to keep his distance from the melancholy, yet entrancing tune. Approaching the figure sitting at the piano, he took a deep breath, and uttered a soft, "I'm sorry."

Takano didn't look up, merely continuing to play as if Ritsu hadn't spoken.

"I... I'm sorry for making you angry before… about a lot of things, really, but I honestly didn't mean for you to hear the last part… um, well it wasn't about you, anyway… and I'm sorry for being snappish back there… but I really didn't lie about how I didn't find my parents… um…" Ritsu stumbled over his words, wondering how best to express how he felt to the man he'd unintentionally married.

Takano still didn't glance his way, but he took his hands off the piano and slightly turned his frame to face the wall, obviously expecting Ritsu to continue explaining himself as he waited. Ritsu, however, decided that he had been embarrassed enough (not to mention he had completely thrown his pride out the window), took a seat on the same bench Takano was sitting on and began to play a soft tune on the upper keys of the piano. It sounded a little too… cheerful for Takano in his current state. He rested his chin on the palm of his hand as he glared at the wall. Ritsu noticed the glare and sighed a little before changing the tone of the piece to a more dramatic, more gloomy version of his previous melody.

Letting the edges of his mouth tilt upwards into a fragment of a smirk, Takano placed his hands back on the keys as he too began to play the same tune on the lower half of the piano. Ritsu immediately switched to playing the harmony allowing Takano to dominate the main melody. Their playing complimented each other and was perfectly in sync. Takano smirked at Ritsu and he couldn't help smiling back.

As the last note of their duet faded into silence, Ritsu spoke up. "My parents… they died in a carriage accident when they were looking for me."

Takano was stunned. "I… I'm sorry." Ritsu knew he wasn't just saying it for their loss, but also for indirectly being the cause of their death. He gave a sad half-smile, and shook his head. "It's not your fault, Takano san."

"I should've let you go earlier…" he mumbled, bangs covering his eyes.

"You couldn't have known. I'm sorry for snapping at you earlier."

Takano reached out and held Ritsu's face in his hands. Ritsu felt oddly reassured at the coolness of the hands. "No, Ritsu, you had every right to be angry." Takano's eyes were full of remorse. "I'm sorry for everything."

Ritsu felt his cheeks redden at Takano's straightforwardness. He tried to look away from Takano's piercing gaze but found himself unable to due to the firm hands cupping his face. Closing his eyes, Ritsu decided to tell Takano what he had been aching to tell him.

"About what you heard…" he felt the hands on his cheeks freeze as Takano visibly stiffened. The initial warmth in his amber orbs had been replaced with a dejectedness that clenched Ritsu's heart. "I completely understand. You don't want to marry someone you don't love. There's no need to explain." Takano chuckled bitterly.

Ritsu stared. _Takano san… really thought I was talking about him. It's really hurt him. _Taking a deep breath, he gently touched Takano's cheek, prompting the other man to lift his head, his eyes widening in surprise at the unexpected contact. "I wasn't talking about you."

"Huh?"

"I wasn't referring to you when I said 'I don't want to marry him because I don't love him'."

Takano blinked. "Oh. I get it. So you do want to marry me." The smirk was back in place. "And you do love me."

"E-excuse me?! Stop twisting my words around! I'm simply trying to clear up this misunderstanding! It's normal to want to do that!

"You're right, it's normal to want to clear up a misunderstanding. But if you didn't love me, you wouldn't have been so desperate to make me understand, like you were just then."

"The hell are you calling desperate, you asshole!"

"So you don't deny the fact that you love me?"

Ritsu could see Takano trying to stifle his laughter. Huffing, he abruptly stood up and glowered at the other man. "Please don't flatter yourself, Takano san. Now if you'll excuse me, I need some air." He turned around for the doorway.

"Onodera."

"What?!"

"Thankyou. For clearing things up. It makes me happy."

Ritsu felt his heart beating faster. "O-of course it does!" and before Takano could say anymore to make him lose anymore of his remaining dignity, he pulled open the door of the bar and ran outside.

* * *

Leaning against the wall outside the bar, Ritsu pressed a hand to his chest and waited for his rapid heartbeat to return to normal.

He didn't completely deny Takano's statement about loving him because he knew... it wasn't a lie. He was falling for Takano. His former high school love. For God's sake, his heart beat faster everytime he thought of a man who was already dead. Takano had been right – he wouldn't have strived so hard to clear up a misunderstanding with someone he didn't love.

He knew he had been unfair to the man, yet said man had done nothing but treat him with kindness ever since he had arrived in the Land of the Dead. Ritsu realised that after getting to know Takano better and seeing the man in a new light, he found himself not minding the idea of marrying a corpse as much. Sure it was a little… creepy still, but he'd rather marry Takano than someone like… Haitani, was it? Who Ritsu had never even met but was sure he wasn't a pleasant character, according to An chan's description of him (especially the part about eyeing Ritsu with a creepy pedophile smile).

"So you're Onodera, huh?"

Ritsu looked up to see a tall, surly man in a business suit standing impassively in front of him. Frankly he reminded Ritsu of a wild bear. "Uh, yes that's me. Who might you be?"

The man answered with a scowl. "I don't believe we've been introduced, but I'm Takafumi Yokozawa. Masamune's friend. I want to talk to you."

* * *

The piece that Ritsu and Takano play on the piano is called 'The Piano Duet' composed by Danny Elfman specifically for the Corpse Bride OST. The dramatic bit is really intense LOL, especially because it's fast and the lower keys, rather than the upper keys, have the melody.

Just be warned that from here on, the plot will be quite different from the original movie, probably because Haitani is going after Ritsu instead of An so things will have to be switched around a bit.


End file.
